Marvel’s Most Underrated Villain Returned in the Best Way Possible

Symbiotes are among the most popular and imaginative alien races Marvel Comics has ever created. Their ability to bond with people has lent itself to many nuanced storylines and many characters with split and conflicting personalities. Since Spider-Man first bonded with the Venom symbiote, Marvel has been churning out symbiotes and their merged hosts left and right, from Venom, Carnage, Anti-Venom, to the literal God of Symbiotes, Knull. In the main Amazing Spider-Man series, the Web-Head and his symbiote allies are fighting the villain Torment. Meanwhile, in Web of Venom #1, Marvel has debuted yet another symbiote duo: Comeback, who makes a fun and compelling spin using one of Marvel’s most underrated villains.

In Marvel Comics, countless people have served as hosts for symbiotes, from Eddie Brock to Mary Jane Watson. And in Web of Venom #1, the new symbiote user is revealed to be the D-List Spider-Man villain and former roommate, Fred Myers, aka Boomerang. This low-grade crook finds himself partnering with an all-new symbiote called the Passenger, and together they become an unstoppable duo. Having spent most of his criminal career as a joke character, Marvel is giving Boomerang, now Comeback, the biggest comeback possible.

Boomerang is the Perfect Character to Receive a Symbiote

While many pre-existing Marvel characters have taken up symbiotes over the years, Boomerang is one of the best choices. Originally, Boomerang was an Australian baseball player who turned to a life of crime after he was fired for taking bribes. With his bizarre costumes and boomerang weapons, Boomerang has always been treated as a buffoonish villain who can’t possibly measure up to New York’s big names like Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. However, in recent years, Marvel has been subtly building Boomerang’s character and role.

The 2010s were a great time for Boomerang, as he was a lead character in the hit miniseries The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, and even became Peter Parker’s obnoxious roommate and temporarily an anti-hero. Still, he’s predominantly been an underrated character who’s unknown to most Marvel readers. Boomerang is a villain who understands his place in the criminal hierarchy and doesn’t want to get himself killed by taking on too dangerous jobs or trying to work his way up the ranks. It’s an interesting mindset that’s rarely explored in lower-rank villains, who normally will do anything to be taken seriously. That’s what makes it hilarious and ironic when Boomerang accidentally found himself in the possession of a powerful symbiote.

When Boomerang reluctantly joined his friend Overdrive as he shopped for power upgrades from the crime lord Tombstone, the place was suddenly swarmed by cops. During the chaos, a jar containing the symbiote Passenger shattered, allowing it to latch onto Boomerang and they escaped together. The Passenger had been trapped in that jar since 1816 and, through the symbiote hivemind, it saw all the crazy adventures that its brethren were up to and wished to be like them. The division between Passenger’s ambition and Boomerang’s avoidance creates a fun dynamic rarely seen in human/symbiote relationships, where the host usually immediately uses the alien to fulfill their lust for power.

However, instead, Boomerang only temporarily agrees to work with Passenger to save Overdrive, who had been arrested. Comeback makes a fantastic pair allowing for great action set pieces and comedy as when the low-level crook uses the symbiote to create boomerangs called “Venorangs.” Of course, by the end, Boomerang decides to continue working with Passenger as partners. Boomerang is the perfect choice for Marvel to have a low-level villain without ambition and content in his place in the supervillain hierarchy host a powerful symbiote. Instead of making yet another main character, like Flash Thompson or Mary Jane, into a superhero, Marvel went in a much more creative direction, having a comedic, lesser-known crook unwittingly thrust into the spotlight and learning to embrace his new, morally ambiguous role.

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Comeback is the Defender of Marvel Comics’ Biggest Losers

A significant theme of Web of Venom #1 and Boomerang’s character arc is the nature of the supervillain hierarchy. Not only are most street-level villains treated as jokes by both the superhero and criminal communities, but they’re also treated as cannon fodder for other storylines. This is best illustrated by Shocker’s untimely demise at the start of the “Death Spiral” arc, as well as Boomerang’s own demise and resurrection in a previous storyline at the hands of the vampire Morlun. Boomerang’s own death particularly cemented his fear of going for anything bigger in life. However, as Comeback, he may have become Marvel’s most unorthodox anti-villain.

Comeback rescues not only Overdrive from custody, but also other D-List Spider-Man villains like Kangaroo, White Rabbit, and Tarantula, all of whom also obtained advanced gadgets from Tombstone. When rescuing his friends, Comeback takes on the Avenger Hawkeye. However, it’s when Tombstone arrives that things take an interesting turn. Since Overdrive and the rest of the villains had acquired tech from Tombstone, the vicious crime lord wants them to work for him or else. Comeback exclaims that he and the rest of his fellow D-List villains are done being treated like garbage by the higher-ups, and they now have the power to be equals. Alongside Hawkeye, Comeback and his fellow “freaks” take down Tombstone and his goons.

Boomerang decides to keep the Passenger because not only is he stronger, but now he can act as a protector for the downtrodden D-List villains and henchmen who are constantly abused and killed. The idea of a character who spends their time protecting low-level criminals from stronger supervillains is an interesting concept with a lot of potential for exploring themes of criminal and societal hierarchies. While DC had a similar idea when they first created Killer Moth, it never really went anywhere. With Comeback as the star of his own series, Marvel has a chance to expand on this concept by having him fight heroes and villains alike. As Comeback, Boomerang could become one of Marvel’s more interesting anti-villains.

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